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Where the United States Lags Far Behind Canada

By Luisita Lopez Torregrosa May 28, 2012 9:46 pmMay 28, 2012 9:46 pm

NEW YORK — In yet another celebratory moment for gays and lesbians, last week came the news that the first gay Marvel comic-book superhero, a Canadian called Northstar, will marry his boyfriend in an upcoming issue of “Astonishing X-Men.”

It’s a signal perhaps of how far ahead Canada has moved on gay rights that Northstar came out as gay two decades ago, in 1992, at a time when in the United States, and much of the Americas, secrecy, intolerance and stigma marked gay life, and the notion of legal same-sex marriage seemed impossibly far-fetched.

But Canada was marching ahead, perhaps more quietly, but certainly more quickly. Amazingly when seen from this side of the northern border, it took Canada, a vast, diverse, multicultural and bilingual nation, only two years — from June 2003, when same-sex marriage was legalized in Ontario province, to July 2005, when Parliament passed the nationwide Civil Marriage Act.

Nearly seven years ago, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage. “It’s a fact of life here,” said Kim Campbell, the former Canadian prime minister with whom I spoke last week about same-sex marriage, abortion and other social issues roiling American — but not Canadian — politics.

Surely, things are hardly harmonious on our side. Still, expectations are running high for American marriage equality. For one thing, President Obama buoyed gays and advocates earlier this month with his public support of gay marriage, the first sitting American president to do so.

A number of progressive states have legalized or are moving to legalize same-sex marriage: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Iowa, as well as Washington, D.C., which isn’t a state. Maryland is said to be close to passage. And, perhaps more critically, two lawsuits on same-sex marriage are heading to the Supreme Court. “They can make history,” wrote Bill Keller in his column on Monday in The New York Times. But, as he says, the Court could stall or delay history, too.

On the downside, Mr. Obama’s declaration of support came a day after North Carolina approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. It was the latest state to pass such a ban, joining 30 other states that have passed amendments or legislation against gay marriage. As to the general tenor across the nation, a recent Gallup poll showed 50 percent of Americans in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage but 48 percent opposing such laws.

It’s not an even fight, and the nation is clearly divided. But how could this democracy fall behind not only Canada but Spain, South Africa, Portugal and Argentina?